The invention relates to a kit for an artificial acetabulum made of a metal outer shell, an inner shell which can be inserted therein and fastening elements which are attached to the outer shell.
In a kit of the said type known from WO-A-88/01491 the outer shell is provided at two points on its circumference roughly opposite one another with tip-stretched lugs, each of which is constructed with a bore to receive a pin, which can be inserted therein with self-locking interference fit and which protrudes from a plate-shaped connecting piece which can be attached to a pelvic part. The known design is provided as a replacement for a missing pelvic part in the region of the hip joint, in which case plate-like retaining parts are to be screwed in the pubic bone-iliac bone region of the pelvis. The outer shell of the known kit provided with tip-stretched lugs produces a relatively voluminous component, the precise positioning of which in the region of the hip joint requires an individual adaptation of the shape of the connecting pieces to the anatomical conditions and/or a relatively complicated preparation of the parts of the pelvis to be constructed with relatively large dimensions for receiving these plate-shaped connecting pieces. Therefore the known kit can only be adapted to a limited degree to different anatomical conditions prevailing in the implantation region, which, in particular with respect to the dimensions of the pelvic part to be replaced and to the angular position of the parts to be implanted, in practice may vary within relatively wide limits. In order to guarantee permanent availability of such kits, which as a rule are relatively seldom used, it is therefore necessary to have a relatively large stock of such kits with several parts made in different sizes, in which case just one of the kits is selected according to the anatomical conditions prevailing, is adapted to these conditions and is finally implanted.